Matt Riddle

Quick Hits: Gouveia-Belcher Likely for UFC 107, Vera Inks Deal With Strikeforce & More

— A middleweight bout between Wilson Gouveia and Alan Belcher is reportedly likely to take place at UFC 107, which is currently scheduled for Memphis, Tennessee on December 12. Both fighters have apparently verbally agreed to the bout. Gouveia has not fought since being brutally stopped with strikes by Nate Marquardt at UFC 95 while Belcher is coming off of a razor-close split decision loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama. [MMA Weekly]

— Kerry Vera, the wife of UFC light heavyweight contender Brandon Vera, has reportedly agreed to a four-fight deal with Strikeforce and will debut with the promotion in November. An opponent for Vera has not yet been found. Vera was victorious in her pro MMA debut at Bellator VI in May, earning a unanimous decision win over Leslie Smith. [Sherdog.com]

Continue reading "Quick Hits: Gouveia-Belcher Likely for UFC 107, Vera Inks Deal With Strikeforce & More"

Report: Riddle vs. Bruno Likely at UFC Fight Night 17 in February

Matt Riddle, a cast member of the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, is expected to take on former Spirit MC middleweight champion Steve Bruno in a welterweight preliminary matchup at UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7.

News of the fight comes from Five Ounces of Pain, citing sources close to Riddle.

Riddle, who currently trains at Arizona Combat Sports along with WEC champions Jamie Varner and Carlos Condit, was victorious in his UFC and professional debut at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in June, winning an unanimous decision over house rival Dante Rivera.

Continue reading "Report: Riddle vs. Bruno Likely at UFC Fight Night 17 in February"

Brown Gets Thomas on Short Notice at UFC 91

Matt Brown, a cast member of the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, will replace one-time housemate Matt Riddle against midwestern product Ryan Thomas in a welterweight preliminary bout that will take place at UFC 91 on November 15 according to MMA Weekly.

Riddle was forced to withdraw from the bout after sustaining a knee injury during a recent training session. The injury will likely require surgery and could keep him out of action for 6-8 weeks.

Brown, a former member of Tito Ortiz’s Team Punishment who now trains with Jorge Gurgel, has split his first two UFC fights. Brown stopped Matt Arroyo via second-round TKO due to strikes at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in June but dropped a hard-fought unanimous decision to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88 two months later.

Thomas was a substitute for another “Ultimate Fighter” alumnus, Jared Rollins, when he took on American Top Team product Ben Saunders on the undercard of UFC 87 in August. Saunders submitted Thomas with an armbar in the second round.

Report: Riddle Forced Off UFC 91 With Injury

Former “Ultimate Fighter 7” contestant Matt Riddle has been forced out of his welterweight bout against Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 on November 15 after sustaining a knee injury during a recent training session according to MMA Weekly.

The Arizona Combat Sports product was victorious in his UFC debut in June, winning an unanimous decision over fellow ‘TUF’ cast member Dante Rivera. The fight was also Riddle’s first as a professional.

According to the report, Riddle’s knee injury will likely require surgery and could keep him out of action for 6-8 weeks. The UFC has yet to announce a replacement opponent for Thomas and it remains unknown at this time if the promotion will be able to secure one with the event just two weeks away.

TUF 7: Finale Live Results

Results from The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale:
Rob Kimmons def. Rob Yundt - Submission (Guillotine Choke)
Dean Lister def. Jeremy Horn - Submission (Guillotine Choke)
Matt Brown def. Matt Arroyo - TKO
Drew McFedries def. Marvin Eastman - TKO
Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough - Cancelled
Dustin Hazelett def. Josh Burkman - Submission (Armbar)
Matt Riddle def. Dante Rivera - Unanimous Decision
Spencer Fisher def. Jeremy Stephens - Unanimous Decision
Diego Sanchez def. Luigi Fioravanti - TKO
Amir Sadollah def. CB Dollaway - Submission (Armbar)
Kendall Grove def. Evan Tanner - Split Decision

Mini-commentary:
- Dollaway protested his loss, suggesting he didn’t tap out.  It did appear that he tapped once.  It resulted in a good-looking hanging armbar from Sadollah.
- Tanner could not solve Grove’s size.  He walked into a few punches, and looked surprised by the reach of Grove’s legs.  Tanner had a good third round, but nothing that compared to the first two, which easily went to Grove.  The split decision result was curious.

Live commentary:
Yahoo!
MMA Weekly
Bloody Elbow
Sherdog

Sadollah-Dollaway II Completes “TUF Finale” Lineup

Last night’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter” showed us that everything isn’t always set in stone, especially when it comes to who will be fighting to become this season’s winner.

After Amir Sadollah pulled off a third-round upset of highly touted wrestler C.B. Dollaway, he was set to join Jesse Taylor in the finals of the reality show’s middleweight bracket for this season. However when a few of the fighters opted to stay in Las Vegas following the filming of the show, Taylor’s infamous drunken escapades continued.

Taylor smashed a limousine window, upset guests at Palace Station, a casino owned by UFC co-owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, and then gave security all they could handle on the fighter’s final night in Sin City. UFC President Dana White had seen enough and ultimately decided to kick Taylor off of the show, additionally asking Dollaway and fellow semi-finalist Tim Credeur to fight in another exhibition bout to decide who would go on to fight Sadollah in the finals.

Dollaway used his wrestling skills to earn a hard-fought unanimous decision over Credeur, moving on to rematch Sadollah this Saturday night. This season’s finale will see the fewest amount of ‘TUF’ cast members in history - only seven from this season will be on the card. The remainder will have a slew of UFC veterans complete a stacked undercard.

The show will also feature a welterweight battle between Diego Sanchez and American Top Team product Luigi Fioravanti. Former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner will collide with Kendall Grove, the middleweight winner of the show’s third season, in the night’s main event.

The complete card for the event is as follows:

Main Card:

Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove
Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Amir Sadollah vs. C.B. Dollaway
Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens
Matt Riddle vs. Dante Rivera

Preliminary Bouts:

Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett
Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries
Dean Lister vs. Jeremy Horn
Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough
Rob Yundt vs. Rob Kimmons
Matt Arroyo vs. Matt Brown